Who: Weber State UniverSity Department of performing artS

What: “the CraDle Will roCk,” by marC blitzStein

DireCteD by trent Cox

When: marCh 23, 24, 27-31, 7:30 p.m. 2:00 pm matinee: marCh 31 Where: eCCleS theater, val a. broWning Center for the performing artS

Weber State University Department of Performing Arts presents “The Cradle Will Rock,” by Marc Blitzstein, directed by Trent Cox. The production runs March 23, 24, 27-31, 7:30 p.m., with a 2:00 pm matinee on March 31, in the Eccles Theater, Val A. Browning Center for the Performing Arts. The production contains adult situations an

An allegory of corruption and corporate greed, this play was written in 1937, directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Housemen as part of the Federal Theatre Project.* Set in “Steeltown, USA”, Larry Foreman tries to unionize the town’s workers and combat greedy businessman Mr.

THE CRADLE WILL ROCKby Marc Blitzstein

directed by Trent Cox

Mar 23, 24, 27-31 • 7:30 pm 2pm matinee on the 31st

Eccles TheaterVal A. Browning Center for the Performing Arts

$11/$8 • Dee Events Center Tickets

1-800-WSU-TIKS • weberstatetickets.com presented by Weber State University Department of Performing Arts

Associated Actors & Technicians Adult language and situations

poster art by David Powell

Mister, who controls the town’s factory, press, church and social organization.Cox says, “When AAT selected “The Cradle Will Rock,” we all agreed that this piece of theatre history would be wonderful for our

generation to see. It’s place in theatre history is a very important one. Cradle was a part of the Federal Theatre Project whose mission was give jobs to unemployed artists and to create art. When The Cradle Will Rock was originally produced in June of 1937 the political overtones in the show scared the government enough send in workers of the W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration) to forcefully shut down the show.

“One of the main themes in the show is prostitution; prostitution of ones self, the government, the church, the press, etc. Although the content of this show was politically heavy for it’s day, it translates to today’s audiences as well. This show deals with themes of the Occupy Movement. Mr. Mister owns Steeltown’s press, church and all of the town’s factories. He is the one percent . . .

“One of Marc Blitzstein’s major influences while creating Cradle was Bertolt Brecht. I am using a few different “brechtian” styles in my directing. . . Elements that we are using to create this are music, minimal set, projections, live sound, and cast doubling: 29 different characters are portrayed by 16 actors. 90 percent of the show is either sung or has musical underscoring - a great challenge. Luckily I have a very skilled music director, Rick Rea, and 16 incredibly talented actors to make this show seem like a piece of cake.”

The Federal Theatre Project was “one of five Federal One projects sponsored by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The FTP’s primary goal was employment of out-of-work artists, writers and directors, with the secondary aim of entertaining poor families and creating relevant art.” (wikipedia)

When the WPA shut down “The Cradle Will Rock,” forbidding the producers to use the costumes or sets or the actors to appear on stage, Welles, Houseman, and Blitzstein rented another theatre, intending Blitzstein to sing/play/read the entire musical. Without prior planning, cast members joined from the audience (not on stage). The success of the performance led Welles and Houseman to form the Mercury Theatre.

Tickets are $11 and $8 for all shows, available in advance at Dee Events Center Tickets, 1-800-WSU-TIKS, weberstatetickets.com or at the door beginning one hour before the performance.

Waiting for Lefty: The New Deal, Radicalism, & the Great Depression of the 1930sa history lecture by John Sillito • free andopen to the public

28 March • 1:30 p.m. • Shepherd Union Building, Room 305

The Cradle Will Rock is a 1937 musical that was written by Marc Blitzstein, directed by Orson Welles, and produced by John Houseman. The show, which is pro-union, and speaks out against corporate greed and corruption, was highly controversial at the time and frowned upon by government officials.

The Cradle Will Rock was written when Blitzstein was thirty-two and was his first musical comedy. He wrote the entire play at break-neck speed, completing it in five short weeks. His inspiration for the musical came from a comment made by his friend, Bert Brecht, who said,”Why don’t you write a piece about all kinds of prostitution - the press, the church, the courts, the arts, the whole system?”

The Cradle Will Rock is the story of “Steeltown, USA” and its inhabitants. The story line follows the efforts of Larry Foreman to unionize the town’s workers and otherwise combat the wicked and greedy businessman Mr. Mister who owns all the property, and as Blitzstein would suggest, all the people in Steeltown.

Though the play is a comedy, it takes on many dark themes which were prominent during the 1930s. It uses a mix of cheap laughs and emotional connections to the characters to make its point. It addresses the issues of communism and the labor movement, while also calling out those who have been corrupted by greed and power.

Even though the play was written quickly it struggled to find ground in production. Originally the Actors’ Repertory Company agreed to produce the show, with John Houseman as the producer and an up-and-coming Orson Welles as the director. But, two short months after the agreement was made the Actors’ Repertory Company decided not to produce the show because of its politics.

Later, Houseman and Welles moved on to working with the Federal Theatre Project and eventually decided to pick The Cradle Will Rock back up and an opening night was scheduled for June 16, 1937. Six days before this scheduled opening misfortune struck the play again when the Federal Theatre Project’s budget was slashed and seventeen hundred workers were fired.

Because of its politics and the budget cuts The Cradle Will Rock opening was cancelled. Armed guards were posted outside the entrance of the theater to ensure no one could enter and remove costumes or props, which were government property. Actors were also told by their unions that they could not perform as long as they were considered employees of the Federal Theater Project and faced losing their jobs or being arrested if they tried. Faced with no stage, no prop or costumes, and no actors, Orson Welles came up with a plan-- Blitzstein would play and sing through the whole performance on his own.

The crowd gathered outside the theater, along with the actors, began to walk across town to the new theater they had rented, The Venice. Along the way, they invited passersby to come see the show for free. By the time they got to the new theater the house was packed.

That evening, as Blitzstein began to play on a rented piano, he heard a voice begin to accompany him. From the crowd, Olivia Stanton, “Moll”, stood up and performed her lines. Soon, other voices chimed in, with the actors performing from their seats and singing across the theater to one another.

The Cradle Will Rock ran for nineteen performances at the Venice Theater and got outstanding reviews. The New York Times said the show was “written with extraordinary versatility and played with enormous gusto, the thing militant labor has put into the theatre yet. Hallie Flanagan, head of the Federal Theater Project defend this controversial show by saying that “the theatre, when it’s good is always dangerous.”

http://www.newlinetheatre.com/cradle.htmlhttp://www.marcblitzstein.com/pages/cradle/pages/cradle1.htm Marc Blitzstein

Works Progress Administration When the Great Depression hit millions of Americans lost their jobs.

When Franklin D. Roosevelt took office in 1933 the estimated number of unemployed workers was between thirteen-fifteen million -- or a quarter of the workforce. As a way to combat unemployment President Roosevelt started the Works Progress Administration also known as the WPA. The WPA was part of the New Deal program, and sought to create jobs in America.

The WPA employed millions of workers for public works projects. At its peak the WPA employed three million workers at once, and overall employed eight million workers from its creation in 1935 to its termination in 1943. There were many programs in the WPA, which benefited workers and their families. One of these programs was the Federal Theater Project.

The Federal Theater Project (FTP) was a sub-set of the Federal Project Number One. It was one of five programs designed to employee the arts and humanities, including musicians, artists, historians, writers, and those working in theater. The FTP was the largest of the Federal Project Number One programs (taking 29.1 percent of the budget) and ran 1935-39. The program emphasized employing out of work actors, directors, playwrights, set designers, and stage technicians. Some of its other goals were to bring back theater as a vital part of community life, to provide entertainment to families, and produce meaningful art.

The FTP succeeded in accomplishing many of these goals. The productions put on by the FTP stretched across the country employing roughly fifteen thousand workers and attracting a wide variety of audiences to the performances, where previously only those in the middle and upper classes had been patrons.

The art created at the time was often controversial, and though WPA head Harry Hopkins said the works created by the FTP should be “free, adult, and uncensored” he soon began to regret these words.

Many of the plays produced under this program dealt with hot-button issues of the time. “Living Newspapers” were productions where playwrights would clip articles from newspapers and adapt them into plays. These productions often had left-winged and progressive themes. Once, Triple-A Plowed Under, even went as far as to attack the U.S. Supreme Court. The daring works of “Living Newspapers” quickly attracted unfavorable government attention, but continued to remain popular among audiences. Other

productions such as the musical The Cradle Will Rock pushed the envelope as well. The Cradle Will Rock, an allegory of corporate greed was shut down before production due to its highly controversial political and social content.

In 1939 the FTP was liquidated when it lost its funding. The loss of funding is now strongly attributed to Congress’ continuous objections to the leftist political tones of the productions. Both “Living Newspapers” and The Cradle Will Rock are considered large contributors to the decision to cut funding.

http://www.homemadejam.org/mix/cradle.html

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/fedtp/ftwpa.html

UnionizingWhen the great depression hit many

Americans lost their jobs. Those who were able to keep their jobs were faced with the strain of working longer hours and having their wages slashed. Many workers felt abused and mistreated by those in power but felt there was little they could do about it. Many were afraid to speak-up or strike, because one of the millions of Americans who did not have a job would quickly take their place. Because of these injustices many trade-workers welcomed the idea of unionism.

Many unions were unsuccessful in the beginning. They were quickly shut down by corporations who refused to bargain with them and would often take measures to undercut union benefits. Companies would also force their employees to sign yellow-dog contracts which forbade them to join a union. They would also strongly encourage employees to join”unions” which were funded by and run by the company.

In 1932 a turning point came when Congress banned yellow-dog contracts, and followed it with a policy that gave a federal minimum wage and maximum working hours. In 1935 eight union leaders created the Committee for Industrial Organization which focused on creating unionization in the mass production industries such as iron, steel, automobile, rubber, electrical, radio, and shipping.

With the help of favorable legislation from Congress and more organized leadership strikes and unions were quickly becoming more successful in their endeavors and bargaining. The CIO helped make strikes more effective with their use of sit-down strikes. During these strikes workers would occupy their positions, but not do the work. This was a drastic change from strikes of the past where workers would storm out of factories and join picket lines. This strategy helped solve the problem of workers instantly being replaced when they attempted to stand up for themselves and led to a string of successful strikes for many trade workers.

Strike in 1937. Woolworth was the original chain of “five and dime” (5¢ &10¢) stores

Study guide text by Whitney Chavez, Marketing AssistantWSU Department of Performing Arts